that the trump tax cuts be allowed to lapse, as they will under law, which would then reduce the debt by about $4.5 trillion over the next ten years, vastly more than any plan the gop seems willing to go through with to cut spending. and that would take america back to the tax rates under barack obama, when the stock market more than doubled and america grew faster than almost every european country. and it would put the u.s. on a much more stable debt trajectory. but don't hold your breath on that happening. far more likely, doge will announce some new stunning findings, something like software duplication in the environmental protection agency, which might save the federal government $100 million, or 0.001% of

[helicopter whirring] fareed zakaria: on june 6, 1984, the 40th anniversary of d-day, president ronald reagan came to the cliffs of normandy. he spoke of the heroism of a battalion of army rangers who had scaled those cliffs under enemy fire, among the millions who gave their lives to liberate europe. ronald reagan: these are the boys of pointe du hoc. these are the men who took the cliffs. these are the champions who helped free a continent. and these are the heroes who helped end a war.

fareed zakaria: reagan made a passionate plea to his fellow americans that day to give meaning to those heroes' sacrifice by never turning their back on the world ever again. ronald reagan: we in america have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. it is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea. fareed zakaria: america had been protecting the peace with powerful alliances for decades. ronald reagan: we've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. fareed zakaria: reagan was expressing a hallowed american ideal, a bipartisan value shared by every president since world war ii. donald trump: from this day forward, it's going to be only america first.

fareed zakaria: until recently. this is what today's republican party sounds like. marjorie taylor greene: my amendment would direct the president withdraw from nato. jd vance: nato has, for decades, sucked on the teat of the american taxpayer. fareed zakaria: this is how it talks about longtime allies. donald trump: in france, they have all sorts of problems. germany is a disaster. fareed zakaria: and this is what it thinks about the world. donald trump: americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. we've been talking about this for a long time. thank you. fareed zakaria: as president donald trump walked away from more international deals than any other president in american history. john kerry: this moment has been a long time coming. fareed zakaria: from the iran nuclear deal-- donald trump: the iran deal is defective. fareed zakaria: --to climate change. donald trump: i was elected to represent the citizens

of pittsburgh, not paris. fareed zakaria: --to trade. donald trump: we're going to keep out of the trans-pacific partnership. fareed zakaria: and according to his own national security advisor, john bolton-- reporter: the 12 nations undertake the common security. fareed zakaria: --he threatened to pull out of the best deal america ever made. reporter: they were sworn to stand together against aggression. fareed zakaria: the nato alliance. it tore down a wall. reporter: the red flag of the failed soviet union at last came down. fareed zakaria: defeated an empire. reporter: sea, land, and air coordination. fareed zakaria: and still defends almost 1 billion people from those hungry for conquest. donald trump: nato is obsolete. it's old, it's fat, it's sloppy. fareed zakaria: how did we get here? the fact is, america has been here before.

to understand, we need to look back and tell the story of america first. welcome to a special hour on american isolationism. i'm fareed zakaria. when we first heard the campaign slogan "america first" in the 2016 campaign, it felt like a startling break from the past that came out of nowhere. but history often repeats itself. and when we look to the past, "america first" was said to be the nation's guiding principle for most of its existence. the story begins with the founding fathers. george washington, the nation's first president, said famously in his farewell address that america should steer clear of permanent alliances

with other countries. barbara a. perry: george washington not only said that we should avoid entangling alliances, but he referred to it as "the great rule." christopher mcknight nichols: that "great rule," a kind of policy bedrock of neutrality, was the touchpoint for american policy makers. fareed zakaria: washington's warning made perfect sense for a young, weak republic and its fragile experiment in democracy. alliances could lead to war. and war could lead to invasion, as well as dangerous division and even tyranny on the home front. barbara a. perry: the tyranny of a standing army and the kind of general who might be governing it. fareed zakaria: america's wisest course would be to enjoy the protection of its massive moats-- the atlantic and pacific oceans. after all, the nation has "a hemisphere to itself," thomas jefferson noted. william i. hitchcock: america is going to prosper by neutrality,

by trade, and by internal development. fareed zakaria: but while america steered clear of europe, it expanded aggressively in its own backyard, building an empire at home, free from power politics abroad. it doubled its size with the louisiana purchase and captured much of the west in the mexican war. that's not quite isolationism. manifest destiny was america's creed in its own hemisphere, a belief that god had ordained its conquest of a continent. william i. hitchcock: the transplanting of indigenous peoples, seizing of their land, and what many people call a genocide against indigenous americans.

fareed zakaria: avoiding entanglements with the rest of the world turned a weak republic into a continental powerhouse. the united states was leading the world in manufacturing by the late 1800s. immigrants seeking freedom and fortune flocked to its shores. and a nation now brimming with confidence was becoming a great power. [brass band playing] in 1913-- reporter: wilson was nominated, and easily defeated a split republican ticket. fareed zakaria: woodrow wilson became president. barbara a. perry: woodrow wilson is a complex character. christopher mcknight nichols: he began with a declaration that he would stick to the core principles of washington and jefferson, that he had no intent to intervene abroad. fareed zakaria: wilson's main focus was his historic domestic agenda, including massive labor reforms, antitrust measures, and other progressive achievements.

"it would be the irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign affairs," he said. fate intervened with world war i. wilson was determined to keep america out of the war. having witnessed the horrors of america's civil war as a child. he won re-election on a promise of peace. william i. hitchcock: he runs for re-election in 1916-- world war i has been going on for two years-- on the platform of "he kept us out of the war." reporter: thousands of tons of shipping are destroyed weekly. fareed zakaria: but then germany ramped up its aggression with an all-out attack on american ships, sinking three of them. reporter: congress passes a resolution. fareed zakaria: an agonized president felt he had no choice

but to go to war. now in the conflict, wilson went all in, vowing to win the war and, more importantly, win the peace, to create a system that would eliminate the death spiral of european conflicts. christopher mcknight nichols: woodrow wilson is the pivotal figure, i would argue, in american foreign policy thought. fareed zakaria: wilson studied the causes of war and came up with 14 points to eradicate it, including the league of nations, which would mediate quarrels in a new civilized world. reporter: statesmen assembled to draw up the peace treaty. fareed zakaria: germany agreed to peace based on wilson's 14 points. reporter: in december of 1918, wilson sailed for france. fareed zakaria: and he was hailed in europe as a savior. his bold idea for a new world order was popular.

but it proved ahead of its time. reporter: the opposition-- fareed zakaria: back home, the league was met with stiff republican resistance. so wilson took his case directly to the american people, barnstorming the country. without the league, there would be another world war, wilson warned. his impassioned defense seemed to be winning people over. but suddenly he was felled by a massive stroke, leaving his left side paralyzed. his wife kept it secret and quietly ran the country. the league went down to defeat. and an invalid wilson finished his term, passing away

just three years later. with woodrow wilson died any hope of a lasting peace. young man: another war? not for me. this time america should keep out. and i know i will. fareed zakaria: coming up. charles lindbergh: we cannot win this war for england. that is why the america first committee has been formed. fareed zakaria: america turns inward like never before. [missile whining] reporter: ruthless aggression and conquest. fareed zakaria: and woodrow wilson's dark prophecy comes true. [suspenseful music]

before donald trump made "america first" a famous catchphrase, another larger-than-life celebrity made it popular in the early 1940s--

the famed aviator charles lindbergh. [energetic music] after piloting the first solo non-stop flight across the atlantic-- reporter: the greatest stunt of all. fareed zakaria: --charles lindbergh was an international sensation. reporter: the most idolized man in the world. fareed zakaria: for time magazine's first ever man of the year in 1928, he was the natural choice. he parlayed his fame into politics, becoming the spokesman for the largest anti-war organization in us history, the america first committee. it included people from all walks of life, from the architect frank lloyd wright to walt disney.

jon meacham: america first was the embodiment, the manifestation of this isolationist sentiment, and it was hugely important and popular. fareed zakaria: it was 1941, and world war ii was raging. [explosions] the nazis had taken over most of europe, but americans wanted desperately to stay out of the war-- 93% of them, according to one poll. the america first committee grew to 800,000 members, and charles lindbergh was its champion. charles lindbergh: we cannot win this war for england. that is why the america first committee has been formed. fareed zakaria: his biggest opponent, president franklin delano roosevelt, who knew that if germany took over europe,

america could be next. it would take his most masterful political performance to ready a nation for war, a war that almost no one in america wanted to get involved with. [suspenseful music] [artillery firing] after the first world war, and over 100,000 dead americans, the united states had returned to its isolationist roots with a vengeance. jon meacham: there was this sense that we should be fortress america. fareed zakaria: republican presidents signed a strict immigration law and a massive tariff, walling off the country from the rest of the world. meanwhile, america's military was reduced dramatically. william i. hitchcock: america was very, very weak, a smaller army than romania. fareed zakaria: tariffs deepened the great depression in the 1930s, which had left 1 in 4 americans out of a job.

jon meacham: it was an existential crisis. and into that moment came franklin roosevelt. franklin d. roosevelt: i, franklin delano roosevelt-- fareed zakaria: roosevelt offered a new deal for the country. franklin d. roosevelt: this nation is asking for action, and action now. fareed zakaria: a barrage of government programs to get folks working again. but to pass his ambitious domestic agenda and save the country, roosevelt needed the many isolationists in congress on his side. [cheers, applause] christopher mcknight nichols: the challenge for him is keeping them on board on the domestic policy side and not moving too fast on the foreign policy side. fareed zakaria: fdr followed congress's lead on international matters, signing neutrality acts to prohibit arms sales to any warring country, friend or foe.

roosevelt sent a letter to adolf hitler, asking him to respect the sovereignty of 31 countries. adolf hitler: sweden, denmark, netherlands. fareed zakaria: the nazis' response-- adolf hitler: [speaking german] [cheers] fareed zakaria: hysterical laughter. william i. hitchcock: the nazis laughed at roosevelt's gesture, just as they laughed at american power. fareed zakaria: hitler knew america would do nothing to stop the great german war machine. american man: this country should heed the advice of its first president and avoid all foreign entanglements. fareed zakaria: germany invaded poland in september 1939. franklin d. roosevelt: this nation will remain a neutral nation. fareed zakaria: but fdr knew that staying neutral would threaten america's security before long. christopher mcknight nichols: you see fdr slowly maneuvering the us population and policymakers towards intervention in the war. franklin d. roosevelt: i ask this congress for authority

and for funds. fareed zakaria: roosevelt convinced congress to finally arm the embattled allies with an isolationist argument that they would like. william i. hitchcock: the idea was, let's build weapons and sell them to britain and france so they can do the fighting. and roosevelt said, that will keep america out of war. reporter: guns and munitions of all sorts pour into britain. fareed zakaria: slowly, fdr began winning over the wary american public. william i. hitchcock: americans start realizing that they're going to have to sacrifice if they want to protect democracy at home as well as around the world. i think it's one of the great achievements of any us president. fareed zakaria: but at the time, many accused fdr of warmongering, and even demanded his impeachment. jon meacham: the struggle between interventionists in the late 1930s and isolationists dwarfed the divisions in the country during the vietnam era.

it was that ferocious. fareed zakaria: roosevelt faced a rebellion in his own cabinet. his secretary of war, harry woodring, was a committed pacifist who ignored direct orders from the president that he thought could drag the united states into war. in june 1940, allied forces were routed at dunkirk. germany was rolling into paris. next on hitler's list was london. roosevelt ordered bombers for a desperate britain, but woodring refused. barbara a. perry: fdr couldn't have an isolationist pacifist as your secretary of war. fareed zakaria: woodring lost his job, but not his cause. he walked out of the white house and joined charles lindbergh's america first committee. the committee would be remembered for the antisemites in its ranks.

but its support ran well beyond just bigots. gerald ford, the poet robert frost, and the future supreme court justice potter stewart were all associated with the group. isolationism was so popular that it even threatened fdr's re-election in 1940, requiring a somewhat misleading campaign promise. franklin d. roosevelt: your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars. barbara a. perry: he had to know that wasn't true, but he knew he had to get re-elected. so he went ahead and said that. fareed zakaria: fdr won the election. but around 80% of americans still remained opposed to entering the war. all of that would change in a single day. franklin d. roosevelt: december 7, 1941, a date which will live

in infamy. [explosions] fareed zakaria: japan's deadly attack on pearl harbor transformed america overnight. christopher mcknight nichols: americans rallied around the flag. fareed zakaria: now 97% of americans supported going to war. the america first committee disbanded. [suspenseful music] isolationism in america was dead. [gunshots] or was it? even after world war ii, the republican party was still thinking america first until a war hero forced the party's about-face. that story next.

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internet, plus a free 5g phone. tens of millions dead. cities reduced to rubble. an entire continent in ruins. europe after world war ii was a hellscape, decimated by yet another great power conflict that had spiraled out of control. the united states had been drawn into it at a cost of nearly half a million american lives.

yet even after the second world war, there were many republicans who still believed in america first and that the nation's wisest course was to turn inward. it took a world war ii hero to inspire an about face in the party-- general dwight david eisenhower. he believed that america's enormous sacrifices could not be allowed to have been made in vain. so he campaigned for a fledgling alliance called nato and led republicans away from isolationism for the rest of the 20th century. this is the little-told story of how a general became a reluctant politician when the world and america needed him most. dwight d. eisenhower: so help me god. fareed zakaria: before eisenhower, there had been president roosevelt, who laid the groundwork for the post-war world.

in 1943, he met with soviet premier joseph stalin, outlining his idea for an international organization with, quote, "four policemen"-- the united states, britain, china, and the soviet union. franklin d. roosevelt: we have learned that we cannot live alone at peace, that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. fareed zakaria: tragically, roosevelt would not live to see his dream realized. reporter: the flag flies at half staff as a grief-stricken nation mourns the death of franklin delano roosevelt, president of the united states. fareed zakaria: just weeks after his death, delegates from 50 nations finalized the charter for fdr's dream-- the united nations. reporter: the charter of a new world is born. fareed zakaria: the un was just one prong

of a new american-led world order, meant to ensure that there would never be a third world war. william i. hitchcock: we accept the principle that american power in the world is a good thing. isolationism is not the way to peace. neutrality is not the way to peace. building the structures of american power with democracies as allies, that's the way to build a peaceful world order. fareed zakaria: there was the marshall plan, america's multi-billion dollar program to rebuild western europe. reporter: american help to supplement european self-help. fareed zakaria: the international monetary fund and the world bank to promote peaceful global trade. and the north atlantic treaty organization, or nato, which would protect its member states from the soviet union. christopher mcknight nichols: undoubtedly, the institutions born out of world war ii helped to prevent another major power conflict on the scale and scope of the second world war.

fareed zakaria: both roosevelt and his successor, harry truman, were democrats, and engagement with the world was their philosophy. on the republican side, things were murkier. william i. hitchcock: there remained what we sometimes call the old guard of republicans, who are very critical of this rapid expansion of america's world presence. fareed zakaria: former president herbert hoover wanted to end us military aid to europe despite the growing soviet threat. and then there was ohio senator robert taft, a front runner for the 1952 republican presidential nomination. taft was a vigorous opponent of the world bank and the marshall plan. he also voted against nato. reporter: a soldier from abilene, kansas, usa. fareed zakaria: but there was another big name in the mix for the republican nomination.

general dwight eisenhower had a competing vision for america's place in the world. he had led the allied forces to victory as their supreme commander in europe. exhausted from his years in uniform, eisenhower fantasized about buying a ranch and retiring. dwight d. eisenhower: i intend to have nothing whatsoever to do with partisan politics. fareed zakaria: but then duty came calling again in the form of a request from president truman. would eisenhower be willing to serve as nato's first military commander? william i. hitchcock: truman needs somebody, some electric personality, to really sell the idea of a permanent alliance, which is something america had never done. fareed zakaria: the soviets had taken over eastern europe and were trying to extend their control across the continent. eisenhower took the nato job. reporter: an order announcing his assumption of command. fareed zakaria: he made a forceful case for the new alliance to the nation.

dwight d. eisenhower: if we americans seize the lead, we will preserve and be worthy of our own past. our children will dwell in peace. they will dwell in freedom. they will read the history of this decade with tingling pride. fareed zakaria: but there was one man eisenhower was especially eager to convince-- the republican front-runner for president, robert taft. before the 1952 republican primary, eisenhower met with taft and proposed a deal. he, eisenhower, would withdraw publicly from consideration for the nomination on one condition-- that taft endorse nato. but taft refused. william i. hitchcock: he says, i'm not doing it. i've been an isolationist all my life. i believe america should look inward, not outward. i would never say such a thing. fareed zakaria: eisenhower had long been reluctant to enter the political fray. but with nato on the line and public support for his candidacy catching fire--

crowd: (chanting) we want ike! we want ike! fareed zakaria: he felt he had no choice. william i. hitchcock: if taft became president, it would be a blow to everything he had done to win world war ii, to build nato. so he's persuaded that to defend internationalism, to defend this new american order, he must run for president. reporter: chicago becomes the focal point for the nation's eyes as the bitterest republican convention in 40 years gets underway. fareed zakaria: a contested convention followed. reporter: senator taft was fighting out a fierce battle against the newcomer. fareed zakaria: taft was a formidable foe. reporter: now cheers by those who like ike. fareed zakaria: but in the end, eisenhower emerged victorious, winning the nomination and then the presidency. dwight d. eisenhower: you have summoned me to lead a great crusade-- for freedom in america and freedom in the world. fareed zakaria: those words ushered in a new era. christopher mcknight nichols: eisenhower running and winning

transformed the republican party. fareed zakaria: republican presidents were now ready to take to the world stage in defense of the western liberal order. barbara a. perry: eisenhower should be given a tremendous amount of credit because he really did smother, in the republican party, the isolationist movement for those many decades. ronald reagan: mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. [cheers] fareed zakaria: in 1989, the berlin wall fell, and soon so did the soviet union. reporter: in moscow, the hammer and sickle is lowered for the last time. fareed zakaria: america had won the cold war, but now it was at a crossroads. would the united states continue to lead or turn inward again? coming up-- how the party of ronald reagan became the party of donald trump.

[suspenseful music]

reporter: patrick buchanan, right now being welcomed by a throng of supporters. pat buchanan: did i not tell you we would make history? [chanting] fareed zakaria: in 1992, a dark horse republican ran for president on a then-controversial slogan. pat buchanan: america first. america first. america first. fareed zakaria: america first. his name was pat buchanan, and he shocked the pundits with a surprisingly strong showing in the new

hampshire primary. crowd: god bless america! god bless pat! announcer: the president of the united states. fareed zakaria: he scared the sitting president, george hw bush. buchanan would eventually fail. but he was the canary in the america first coal mine. pat buchanan: maintain your sovereignty of your own country. fareed zakaria: why did his america first message fall short then-- [cheers] --and yet become a massive success years later? this is the story-- ronald reagan: we were with you then, we are with you now. fareed zakaria: --of how the party of ronald reagan-- john roberts: so help me god. donald trump: so help me god. fareed zakaria: --became the party of donald trump. donald trump: from this day forward, it's going to be only america first. america first.

fareed zakaria: before trump-- pat buchanan: looking out here, you can't tell a republican from a democrat or an independent out here. fareed zakaria: --there was pitchfork pat buchanan. a former staffer with president nixon turned conservative cable star. reporter: crossfire. on the right, pat buchanan. fareed zakaria: buchanan long had the pulse of the gop's base. ronald reagan: we've been together eight years now, and soon it'll be time for me to go. fareed zakaria: and with reagan's departure and communism's defeat-- ronald reagan: mr gorbachev, tear down this wall. barbara a. perry: i'm ready to roll. good to see you again. fareed zakaria: --buchanan sensed an opportunity to revive the right's isolationist tradition. his rival for the soul of the gop was reagan's successor, george herbert walker bush. man: congratulations.

fareed zakaria: bush was the quintessential establishment republican, determined that america should continue to lead the world after the fall of the berlin wall. he helped reunify germany. george hw bush: germany is united. germany is free. tonight, the battle has been joined. fareed zakaria: and he led an international coalition to kick saddam hussein out of kuwait. reporter: the skies over baghdad have been illuminated. fareed zakaria: that victory was swift and convincing. george hw bush: kuwait is liberated. fareed zakaria: bush declared a new world order, led by the usa. george hw bush: a new world order where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause. man: the economy today. woman: the economy. man: the economy. fareed zakaria: but across the nation, many americans did not feel they were winning. reporter: unemployment is the highest in nearly a decade. fareed zakaria: the country was in a recession. pat buchanan: let me tell you about mr. bush's new world order.

fareed zakaria: with the cold war won, people wanted to focus on problems at home. man: buchanan's coming through. fareed zakaria: from his perch on cable television, pat buchanan took notice. crowd: pat '92! fareed zakaria: and pitchfork pat-- pat buchanan: how you doing? fareed zakaria: --seized his moment. pat buchanan: declaring my candidacy for the republican nomination for president of the united states. fareed zakaria: reagan had spoken of america as a city on a hill. buchanan saw a fortress in need of defense. george hw bush: the united states and mexican governments-- fareed zakaria: buchanan blasted free trade deals. pat buchanan: the president ought to be tougher in protecting american jobs and american businesses and american industries. fareed zakaria: he wanted to stop paying for the defense of longtime allies. pat buchanan: the germans and the japanese have been free-riding and freeloading off the united states. and if i'm president, they're going to pay the full burden of their own defense. fareed zakaria: he rejected international commitments, demanded a border wall, and he summed it all up

with one big slogan-- pat buchanan: i believe in a foreign policy of america first. reporter: buchanan's america first stance translates into opposition to foreign aid, lower taxes, trade protectionism, and immigration restrictions. fareed zakaria: to the shock of the political establishment, his message resonated. reporter: patrick buchanan right now being welcomed by a throng of supporters. fareed zakaria: he earned nearly 40% of the vote in new hampshire. pat buchanan: did i not tell you we would make history? fareed zakaria: bush would win the nomination easily. george hw bush: here we go. fareed zakaria: but buchanan would eventually win the argument for the party's future. pat buchanan: my friends, we must take back our cities, and take back our culture and take back our country. fareed zakaria: in 1996, buchanan won the new hampshire primary. reporter: a buchanan bombshell rocks the granite state.

fareed zakaria: that was pat buchanan's high water mark. but his america first philosophy had an impact on the gop. george w. bush: we will not be permanent peacekeepers, dividing warring parties. fareed zakaria: in 2000, during george w. bush's presidential campaign, he said, america should scale back its foreign commitments. george w. bush: i don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building. fareed zakaria: then suddenly, the world changed. after the attacks on september 11, bush promised to eliminate terrorist threats around the world. george w. bush: the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. [cheers] the united states military has begun strikes against al-qaeda terrorist training camps. fareed zakaria: he invaded afghanistan.

reporter: coalition forces have begun striking selected targets. fareed zakaria: and then iraq. george w. bush: all who live in tyranny and hopelessness, the united states will not ignore oppression. fareed zakaria: a totally transformed bush said he would spread freedom and democracy everywhere. george w. bush: when you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. [artillery fire] fareed zakaria: but the wars dragged on inconclusively, and thousands of americans were killed and wounded in far-off places. [stockbrokers shouting] reporter: the us banking system remains in deep trouble. fareed zakaria: then in 2008, the worst financial crisis since the great depression shattered the economy. once again, america's elites looked like they had led the country astray.

[cheers] along came the tea party, a hard-right rebellion against those elites. crowd: can you hear us now? fareed zakaria: its big target was bush's successor, barack obama, america's first black president. but the wars and financial crisis had happened on bush's watch. george w. bush: i'm going to sign it into law. fareed zakaria: a rage-filled right-wing base went after the republican establishment as much as the democrats. they believe that as the country navigated a globalizing world, they were being left behind. america first became an alluring refrain, and donald trump became the ideal messenger. donald trump: they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. and some, i assume, are good people. the last one. fareed zakaria: donald trump has often been accused of having no real convictions. pat buchanan: do you have an interest in political office

at the national level? donald trump: well, i'll tell you, pat, they treated me beautifully in new hampshire. fareed zakaria: but he had been preaching his version of america first for decades. donald trump: i'd make our allies pay their fair share. fareed zakaria: trump slapped tariffs on trusted allies and tore up treaties. donald trump: the united states will withdraw. ronald reagan: a word about loyalty. fareed zakaria: the party of reagan had been transformed into the party of trump. donald trump: witch-hunt, witch-hunt, scam, hoax. fareed zakaria: a party likely unrecognizable to the man who was once the right's greatest hero. crowd: fight for trump! fight for trump! fight for trump! fareed zakaria: coming up, my thoughts on america first

and now for some closing thoughts on america first. 1945 is a bright line in world history. the century before it was grim--

world war ii, world war i, the boer war, the balkan wars, the russo-japanese war, the sino-russian war, the spanish-american war, the franco-prussian war. and those are just the major conflicts. since 1945, there have been wars-- korea, vietnam, the soviets and americans in afghanistan. but the number of them and the number of deaths in them have plummeted by more than 95% by steven pinker's 2011 estimate. pinker also notes that successful territorial conquest declined to zero by the late 20th century, despite being the primary feature of war before 1945. this is why the russian aggression against ukraine is such a dangerous aberration. there have been many civil wars, of course, but pinker showed that these have been less bloody than the major wars of the past. the reduction of conflict is just one measure of the changes

in the international system since 1945. countries before 1945 were autarkic, with largely closed economies, high tariffs, and, for the great powers, captive colonial markets. things worsened in the early 20th century as countries became more mercantilist and nationalist. that began to change after 1945 as the world economy became more open and interdependent, which led to huge rises in the average incomes and quality of life of people across the world. average tariffs declined from around 20% in the 1940s to under 5% on most trade in 2016. trade increased from $63 billion in 1950 to almost $25 trillion in 2022. and these numbers don't capture the massive increase in global supply chains, cross border investment,

and collaboration around the world. the result has been an almost five-fold increase in average income worldwide since 1950, adjusting for inflation. this did not all happen by accident. it happened because the world's leading nation, the united states, organized the world around a series of ideas that produced a very different international system than before, creating a watershed in international history. it chose to ask for no spoils for its victory. instead, it financed the rebuilding of the defeated powers-- germany, italy, and japan. it poured money into poor countries, helping them to eradicate many severe problems of health and nutrition. through the bretton woods institution, it created a structure of international trade and collaboration that birthed the open world economy.

and with its efforts to force europe's colonial powers to end their imperial roles, it allowed for a new world of independent nations. i'm not being naive. america was often selective, hypocritical, and wrong in doing these things. it still is. it often made tragic errors in using force to punish what it regarded as bad regimes-- from vietnam to iraq. but compared to past great powers, the united states' behavior and the world that it made stand in bright, shining light. this world would not have come into being had germany won world war ii. it would not have expanded massively after 1989 had the soviet union won the cold war. it was not all an act of altruism. america genuinely believed that a world of openness, order, and liberty would be a more prosperous and secure world for all, especially the richest country of them all, itself.

the evidence bears this out. the united states has stayed the world's leading economic power since 1945. average income in the united states in 1945 was about $16,000. today, it is about $58,000, both numbers adjusted for inflation. indeed, today, america dominates the world of technology and economics on a scale that is unprecedented. in 2008, the eurozone economy and the american economy were about the same size. today, america is almost twice the size of the eurozone. and yet many americans want to turn inward. it's understandable. we take the world that we built and in which we have thrived for granted. we've tired of the burdens of leadership. we listened to those who say that foreigners are ripping us off, and that we could squeeze them and get a better deal,

and that we should walk away and let them sort out their own mess. we are seduced once again by the siren call of america first. but once we walk away, the world we built will crumble. it is not naturally occurring, and will not survive an american abandonment. no other power can fill our role. it is the labor of many generations that have built up these institutions and order. it would be the work of a few years to let it all erode and collapse. depending on how america acts over the next few years, we might be entering a new world, actually, one that is old and familiar, one marked by narrow nationalism, protectionism, insecurity, and constant mass scale violence and war. thank you for watching this special hour on america first.